YANA - YOU ARE NOT ALONE NOW

PROSTATE CANCER SUPPORT SITE

BRONZE

Bob B and Maureen live in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was 52 when he was diagnosed on October 30, 2009. His initial PSA was 7.0 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 8 and he was staged T2a. He is undecided as to his choice of treatment. Here is his story.

I had a annual physical and the internist suggested a PSA test. My PSA was a 6.1 and he sent me to a urologist.

Re-test and new PSA of 7.4. Possibly an infection Cipro for 7 days and retest in three weeks. New PSA count of 7.1 doctor informs me I am a 7 and need a biopsy.

Biopsy scary but no big deal. Result from eight samples one core Gleason Score of 4+4=8.

I am on my way to see the urologist now and am grateful for you site as it really helps.

God only knows what treatment I will go with.

Later: So... I have seen seven different doctors, I had two pathology reports done and the numbers came back the same. I saw doctors from UCLA and Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles.

The consensuses is for my age and Gleason score surgery is the best decision and we will decide after the final pathology report if radiation is needed. I hope and pray that the cancer is organ contained. I have been through a Bone Scan, cat scan and a MRI all where tolerable but the MRI was uncomfortable.

The hardest part of all this research and doctors is the anxiety that is causes when I made the decision to go with Dr. Reiter and LR surgery I am much better and gearing up for Surgery on Jan. 4th.

I am so grateful for all your support and this site.

Thanks
Bob

 

UPDATED

February 2010

 

 

I had surgery on January 4 and it went fine.

Like most of the post it was not fun but I am recovery quickly. Checked in at 5:00 am fell asleep at 7:15 am, woke up at noon, I was very thirsty and my right shoulder hurt from the way they position you. I was up walking around 5:00 pm and again at 8:30 pm went home the next day around 11:00 am. My doctor came by twice and said everything looked good and he would see me in a few months.

The best advice I can give is start walking ASAP and do as much as your body will allow and you will recover quicker and easier. When I pushed too hard I would see blood in my urine and I would back off a little. That only lasted a couple of weeks I now walk a minimum of 30 minutes per day and longer on weekends. Four weeks post op I played my first nine holes of golf, five weeks I played two sets of tennis. I am almost six weeks post op and I am 90% back.

As for incontinence, I was using two pads per day immediately after having the catheter removed. After three weeks, I was down to one pad per day. I am thinking of switching to a smaller pad soon as I still leak every once in a while when I move in a unexpected way. Keep doing Kegels all the time it really works...

My pre surgery staging was T2a as they could feel the edge of my prostate was not firm. My post op pathology report came in as T3a and a Gleason 8. That's the bad news the good news is my margins are clear and there is no involvement of the lymph nodes, seminal vesicles, apex and base of the prostate.

We are seeing the doctor on March 4, eight weeks post op to discuss next steps. I am waiting for my first post op PSA test with great anticipation, I hope and pray for good news.

As always thanks to all of you for this amazing and helpful website. Bob .

Bob's e-mail address is: baileybob3533@aol.com